Kochi Water Metro ferries over 6,500 passengers on first day

KOCHI: India's first water-based metro, Kochi Water Metro, which was formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recorded a footfall of 6,559 passengers on Wednesday, its inaugural day of service. The commercial operations started at 7 am on Wednesday and closed at 8 pm.

The 'Water Metro' operated every 15 minutes in the High Court-Vypin route from both terminals. Kochi Water Metro, a one-of-its-kind project connecting Kochi's islands, was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday at Thiruvananthapuram.

Initially, eight electric-hybrid boats will ply on two routes -- High Court-Vypin and Vyttila- Kakkanad. On Wednesday, the service started in the High Court-Vypin route and the service on the Vyttila-Kakkanad route will begin from Thursday.

The single journey ticket fare for the High Court-Vypin route is Rs 20. The fare for Vyttila- Kakkanad route will be Rs 30. Other than single-journey tickets, Kochi Water Metro will also have weekly, monthly and quarterly passes. As an inaugural offer, commuters can enjoy discounts on the purchase of various trip passes.

A weekly trip pass with 12 trips is priced at Rs 180 while the monthly trip passes are valid for 30 days, enabling 50 trips at a cost of Rs 600. The quarterly pass (3 months) is priced at Rs 1,500 and would enable passengers to avail 150 trips within the period of 90 days.

People would also be able to use the 'Kochi One Card' for travelling in the Kochi Water Metro. The Mobile QR tickets could be booked through Kochi One app.